Part 7: The Yeast (Luke 5:37-38)

And no one puts new wine into old wineskins; otherwise the new wine will burst the skins and it will be spilled out, and the skins will be ruined. But new wine must be put into fresh wineskins. (Luke 5:37, 38 NASB)

After the crushing, most winemakers today add yeast and sugar to stimulate and control fermentation. There are some winemakers, however, who rely on "natural" or "wild" fermentation. It turns out that yeast actually gets onto the grapes in the field and, once the grapes are crushed, the "wild" or field yeast begins the fermentation process. Those grapes come in from the field with everything they need to become wine already! The only thing lacking is the crushing!

Imagine that! God, in His infinite wisdom and design, has already arranged everything in advance to allow for preservation of the juice.  

What we need to understand is that He has done the same for us. Even while we were in the field of our rebellion, God was placing in us everything we needed to become the mature believers He intended us to become. All that was lacking was "the crushing" for the process to begin! 

Take heart, dear ones. Crushing is not a bad thing. Allowed to progress to completion, crushing can bring the grapes to maturity as wine, even without any other intervention  (added yeast or sugar) except what God has already done. Those wonderful consequences we can barely stand to experience ourselves or watch in the lives of our loved ones can be the very thing God will use to bring maturity and rich flavor to our lives. Crushing consequences can be the thing that starts the process of preservation of our very lives. How important it is to allow the crushing! 

Dear ones, as we watch our loved ones struggling along the road to faith, trust the One who loves them most. Do not despair! There is a plan, and the crushing is only the beginning of what will become something wonderful. 

Pray that what God has started will be allowed to progress to completion exactly as He planned and that maturity and a firm faith will be the result.